Dinocroc vs Supergator (2010)

“When the clones of Dinocroc and Supergator break free from a research lab in Hawaii, the two creatures begin mauling their way through the local beach resort unaware of each other’s existence. With no hope in sight, an industry spy, a policewoman and a Fish & Game hunter known only as ‘The Cajun’ must band together to bring the two mammoth crocodilians into battle with one another. The only problem is then how to deal with the victor?”

Cast

David Carradine – Jason Drake

Corey Landis – Paul Beaumont

Amy Rasimas Holt – Cassidy Swanson

Rib Hillis – Bob ‘The Cajun’ Logan

John Callahan – Charlie Swanson

Delia Shepard – Kimberly Taft

Jeff Rector – Stewart Taft

Creature Connections

Bermuda Tentacles – Jeff Rector

Camel Spiders – Jim Wynorski, Corey Landis

Cowboys vs Dinosaurs – Rib Hillis

Cry of the Winged Serpent – Jim Wynorski, Jeff Rector

Dinosaur Island – Jim Wynorski

Dinosaur Valley Girls – Jeff Rector

Gila! – Jim Wynorski

Komodo vs Cobra – Jim Wynorski

Piranhaconda – Jim Wynorski, Mike Maclean, Rib Hillis

Raptor – Jim Wynorski

Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre – Jim Wynorski, John Callahan

Sharktopus – Mike MacLean

The Curse of the Komodo – Jim Wynorski

The Wasp Woman – Jim Wynorski

Gallery

Review

Dinocroc vs Supergator is a killer crocodile movie that was first broadcast on the Syfy Channel on June 26, 2010. Technically the third film in Roger Corman’s Dinocroc trilogy, the film was directed by genre veteran Jim Wynorksi (Raptor, Komodo, Piranhaconda, Camel Spiders) and stars David Carradine in one of his last performances along with Corey Landis, Amy Rasimas and Rib Hillis.

When the clones of Dinocroc and Supergator break free from a research lab in Hawaii, the two creatures begin mauling their way through the local beach resort unaware of each other’s existence. With no hope in sight, an industry spy, a policewoman and a Fish & Game hunter known only as ‘The Cajun’ must band together to bring the two mammoth crocodilians into battle with one another. The only problem is then how to deal with the victor?

It’s worth stating now that I was a big fan of Dinocroc but not of Supergator, so straight out of the gate, this film is far more like Supergator than it is Dinocroc but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of good things to say about it…

The design of the creatures has not changed at all which I really liked, I’ve always thought that Dinocroc had such a simple but brilliant design and has always been one of my favourite creatures alongside Lockjaw (the Crococonda? Alliboa? Cobragator?). Supergator’s design is far more akin to merely a giant alligator with spikes but the contrast between the two really helps the audience to identify which crocodilian is which. There is also a really high body count with a reasonable degree of variation in the kills (personal favourite being the giant stone slab crushing someone). If you can get past the seriously crappy special effects then DC vs SG has everything that a creature features needs to offer: giant CGI monsters, copious amounts of bikinis and a kill once every 5 minutes.

A bizarre nuance that the film-makers implement is a hospital bed assassination scene, something that I must admit to have never seen in a creature feature before. It was like for a few minutes, everybody forgot that they were making a CGI-sploitation movie and everything became rather disconcertingly serious. And I like it. I really like the out-of-place and arguably unnecessary scene and every time I watch DC vs SG, I find myself looking forward to it.

Sadly that’s about all the nice things I have to say about DC vs SG, like I said before, it’s far more like Supergator than it is Dinocroc…

I know it’s an old complaint but are we still at that stage where the creatures change size and dimension in order to work in plot contrivances. I first noticed the trend in the surprisingly good Python where the 30 foot snake is able to sneak inside a garage and hide behind a car long enough to behead Jenny McCarthy. I need a phrase to explain these plot contrivances when they occur, how about ‘[insert Monster here] is dimensionally unclear.’

DC vs SG feels remarkably padded for an 87 minute film, there are a number of scenes where characters are introduced but then immediately killed off in the second or third time we revisit them. The worst case scenario is with Chaz, the movie producer, who has one scene of him calling the hotel to prepare for his arrival then 20 minutes later a second scene, wherein he and his bikini babes get munched in a Jacuzzi by Supergator. The guy has two scenes, not enough to make us care when he dies so why even bother with the introduction scene? Are we supposed to care? I wasn’t even aware that it was the same guy from the car to the hot tub until halfway through the second scene. Why not just have the one scene of Supergator eating them all but tell it from the Gator’s point of view? Also flashbacks are horribly unnecessary for a film of both this length and simplicity, the audience may not be paying full attention to everything that happens onscreen but I think that they can at least remember how the film started without it being shown again.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that these films are made for a particular audience and that particular audience want to see numerous people getting eaten by horribly CGI-ed giant animals. That’s the very essence of CGI-sploitation. I also understand that DC vs SG needed more disposable characters to put in the path of their dimensionally unclear creations, but I will never forgive them for the horrid tour bus scenes. I believe there are three scenes of a tour bus group heading around the resort and this superbly, awe-inspiringly, gob-smackingly annoying woman just wants to see some stupid condo that Elvis used to stay in. I don’t know whether it’s her atrocious acting or just the fact that every wooden line she has is whining about the stupid Elvis condo. Having said that I did enjoy watching Supergator decimate the tour bus in one epic belly flop, it was probably my highlight of the film.

Regardless of the small seeds of enjoyment that were sown (and despite the crappy sequel hook) I’m not gonna hold my breath for a Dinocroc vs Supergator 2.

There is surprisingly little to say about the characters in DC vs SG, the main cast are all fairly competent whilst the supporting cast are hilariously awful. In one of his final performances David Carradine (Kill Bill) plays Jason Drake, the owner of the Research Lab where the creatures are birthed. Guess what he cares about? That’s right, profits!

Corey Landis (Camel Spiders) is one of our protagonists, a downtrodden industry spy who is constantly berated by everybody else for his dress sense. His performance is adequate, much like his female lead Cassidy Swanson, a courageous island cop, played by Amy Rasimas Holt. The interestingly named Rib Hillis (Piranhaconda) plays The Cajun, he is physically imposing and is suitably mysterious, but he lacks all the charm that Costas Mandylor (Hyenas) oozed when he played the exact same role in Dinocroc.

I really liked Dinocroc; it was well acted and had decent special effects. It also had a simple storyline that wasn’t padded or full of throw-away characters. Supergator on the other hand, represented the start of the beach resort CGI-sploitation that is invading the genre at the moment. Annoying characters, rubbish special effects, natural lighting creating a really cheap look and half-hearted performances from the cast. Is Dinocroc vs Supergator better than the sum of its two parts? No, Dinocroc is better than all of them and not just because it features Costas Mandylor.

How does the film compare to other creature vs creature movies? Well, it’s certainly better than Komodo vs Cobra (also from Wynorski) but then again, nearly everything is. Is it better than Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus or Mega Python vs Gatoroid? Sadly, no, both films have a far greater enjoyment factor than this one despite also being greatly flaw ridden. And just for the sake of a clever metaphor, is it better than Boa Vs. Python? Let’s just say that if DC vs SG was a tiny little bamboo shoot then Boa vs Python would be a Mega Panda by comparison (also a fantastic idea for a creature feature).

Whilst I don’t hate DC vs SG, I find its acceptance in being nothing more than formulaic Syfy Channel schedule filler slightly disheartening, especially when it comes from Roger Corman. I don’t know how much influence Jim Wynorski had in the script that was co-written with Mike MacLean but it’s bland and lacks inspiration, nothing compared to MacLean’s follow-up films, Sharktopus and Piranhaconda. Personally I hope that this run of cheap beach resort and creature vs creature style of films ends pretty soon, but unless there’s a significant drop in viewing figures, that doesn’t seem likely.

Take what you can from Dinocroc vs Supergator, it’s inoffensive and vanilla, just CGI-sploitation that is purely for the fans and no one else. I would say give it a miss unless you are really that bothered to another glimpse of the super cute Dinocroc and his adorable, tiny, little arms.